Furman 5, UNC Asheville 0
Furman 7, Washington & Lee 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman men's tennis team picked up its first two wins of the spring season, posting a 5-0 victory over UNC Asheville Friday afternoon, then defeating Washington & Lee 7-0 Friday night at the Mickel Tennis Center.
In doubles play against UNC Asheville, Paladin seniors Chris Rhyne and Chris Motes teamed up for an 8-3 win over Matt Waissen and Jonas Brobeck in the number one spot. At number two doubles, Furman junior Sawyer Duncan and freshman Andrew Mellow recorded an 8-6 victory over Nathan White and Nicola Nonnenbroich, while Paladin junior Andrei Chvetsov combined with senior Jordan Walters to defeat Thomas Rees and Adrien Langeard 8-6 at number three doubles.
Furman won four singles points, with Duncan defeating Waissen 7-6, 7-6(4), at number one singles, and Motes beating Nonnenbroich 6-4, 6-4, at number two singles. Walters recorded a 6-2, 7-6(5) win over Brobeck at number three singles, and Paladin freshman Carl Lundberg pulled out a 7-5, 2-6, 6-0 victory over Rees in the fourth singles spot.
The number five and number six matches were unfinished. Chvetsov won the first set over White at number five singles, while UNC Asheville's Alex Appelt had a 3-1 lead over Furman sophomore Watson George in the sixth singles spot.
"Our guys played well," said Paladin head Coach Paul Scarpa. "UNC Asheville had a very good team and played us close in several matches."
In the match against Washington & Lee, Furman won two out of three doubles matches to take the doubles point. Rookies Mellow and Tyler Droll posted an 8-1 win over Will Hall and Alex Brooke at number one doubles, while Lundberg and George teamed up for an 8-4 win at number three doubles. The Generals' Jeremy Becht and Hayden White won a close 8-7 match against Chvetsov and senior Robert Bruner in the second doubles slot.
The Paladins swept the singles matches against the Generals. Mellow posted a 6-4, 7-5 win over White at number one, and Chvetsov defeated Hall 6-2, 7-5 at number two. Droll recorded a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Michael Freeman in the third singles position, while George beat Becht 6-1, 6-3 to take the win at number four singles. At number five singles, Rhyne posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ben Fass, and in the sixth singles position Bruner defeated Alex Brooke 6-3, 6-4.
The Paladins (2-3) will open the Southern Conference season Sunday when the team faces Davidson at 1:30 p.m. at the Mickel Tennis Center.
Samford 6, New Orleans 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- As a steady downpour of snow was falling quietly on Samford's campus, the Bulldogs' men's tennis team was indoors squaring off against the Privateers from the University of New Orleans in the Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion. Samford (2-1) defeated UNO (0-1) on Friday by a score of 6-1 to earn its second straight non-conference triumph.
The Bulldogs won the doubles point and received singles victories from Zac Dunkle, Oliver Reynolds, Carson Kadi, Carl Abalos and Adam Witcher to tally the 6-1 win. UNO was forced to compete Friday with only five healthy players and had to concede the matches on doubles court No. 3 and singles court No. 6.
Samford's Dunkle, Reynolds and Abalos all improved their singles records to 2-1 on Friday. Dunkle defeated UNO's Benjamin Bouhana, 7-5, 6-0, on court No. 1, while Reynolds outlasted Ben Smith in the No. 3 singles match, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Abalos, the Bulldogs' junior from Woodstock, Ga., knocked off Abdelrahman Zaki, 7-5, 7-5, on court No. 5.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs host Gadsden State at the Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion.
Maryland 5, UNC Greensboro 2
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Orcun Seyrek and Arsel Kumdereli won in the top two singles spots, but UNC Greensboro suffered its first loss of the spring season, dropping a 5-2 decision against Maryland in men's tennis action on Friday.
Seyrek defeated Sergio Wyss in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-2, while Kumdereli topped Ryan Lissner, 6-2 and 6-0.
However, the Terrapins won the other four singles matches in straight sets and won all three doubles pro-sets, as well.
The Spartans continue their weekend northern swing with a match against Navy on Saturday.